FEATURE DESIGN + DESIGN SPRINT
Designing a client-ready report that helps MSPs prove backup value in the room
Axcient partners needed a professional way to show clients what backups were actually doing for them. I co-facilitated a design sprint that turned prior research into a shippable Executive Summary that was scannable, simple, and in-depth.
UX Designer · Jul 2023 – Apr 2024
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine Oct 19, 2022 – Oct 25, 2022
Northwind
Marine
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period. Included below are the statistics relating to your overall backup health, data storage, and recovery times.
Average Backup Health Score
0%
100%
Current Period
Previous Period
85%
75%
During this report period, an averaged 85% of your protected systems met their specified SLA protection threshold.
144 GB
Total Data Backed Up
30/36
Successful Backups
100 GB
Appliance Storage
35
Avg. Backups per day
512 GB
Local Cache Storage
4000
Total Restore Points
850 GB
Avg. Data per Server
150 GB
Avg. Data per Workstation
11.7 Hours
Est. Time to Recover Server Data*
2.1 Hours
Est. Time to Recover Workstation Data*
0.2 Hours
Est. Time to Virtualize Server
0.2 Hours
Est. Time to Virtualize Workstation
Protected System Counts
5
Cloud Backup Workstations
65
Cloud Backup Servers
5
On-site Workstations
5
On-site Servers
5
Parked Workstations
5
Parked Servers
At the end of the report period, your organization had 87 systems protected.
*Time to download backed-up data from the Cloud via FTPS, based on an internet speed of 350 Mbps
Page 1 of 2
Generated Oct 26, 2022
WHAT I DID
Co-ran the sprint. Shaped the report.
With another designer, I facilitated a week-long design sprint with stakeholders where we built upon prior interviews and feedback to define the workflow and a client-ready summary.
THE RESULT
Highest-engagement reporting asset.
25% partner adoption within weeks, 14,000+ clicks, and 2× the usage of other reports. One of our highest utilized repots to date!
THE PROBLEM
No reliable way to put backup value in front of a client
→
MSPs couldn’t clearly communicate ROI or service value
→
Existing reports were time-consuming to prepare and often ignored
→
Inconsistent formatting made the product feel fragmented and dated
→
No client-ready summary weakened renewal and upsell conversations
ROLE + DESIGN SPRINT
A full week with stakeholders—built on months of research
“Our partners need a way to show the value of their services to their clients.”
MY ROLE
UX Designer · sprint co-facilitator
- Co-facilitated the 1-week design sprint with another designer
- Worked with stakeholders in the room to map the ideal reporting journey
- Built on prior research, user interviews, and partner feedback
- Helped define the create-flow and the client-ready report structure
01
Prior research & interviews
MSP pain was already clear: technical dumps, no shareable story, weak renewal conversations.
02
1-week design sprint
Stakeholders mapped journey, prioritized a client-facing summary, and aligned on MVP scope.
03
Prototype + partner testing
High-fidelity mocks validated clarity, navigation, and real-world usability with internal stakeholders and MSPs.
04
Ship into existing Reports
Landed in the Reports tab partners already used—no new destination to learn.
INSIGHTS → PRINCIPLES
Three insights became three rules for the report
01
Clarity over complexity
Insight: Technical data overwhelmed clients and hid the real value.
Shows up as: health score + scannable metric tiles
02
Trust must be visible
Insight: Clients equate clarity and professionalism with competence.
Shows up as: a polished, branded, client-ready PDF
03
Built for the conversation
Insight: MSPs needed a summary that guides the meeting, not derails it.
Shows up as: comments, suggested actions, optional depth
THE DECISION
Lead with a client-ready summary. Add depth only when the conversation needs it.
OPTION A
Rejected
One dense technical dump
Ship every metric, every system, every time. Partners spend the meeting explaining the report instead of telling the story.
OPTION B
Shipped
Summary first, detail on demand
Default to a 2-page executive summary. Offer Protected System Listing as an optional deeper cut when a client asks.
THE TRADEOFF
Power users lose an always-on deep dive. System-level tables become an opt-in, not the default first impression.
WHY IT WAS WORTH IT
Partners finally had something they could put on a screen in a business review meeting without apologizing—and still open the detail when asked.
CREATE FLOW
Five steps from Reports tab to a shareable PDF
Partners already went to Reports. We added Executive Summary there, then a short form: pick the client, set the date range, choose detail level, add comments, preview, and download.
Axcient
x360
Recover
Dashboard
Clients
Services
Devices
Vaults
Users
Reports
/ Reports
x360Recover Reports
Executive Summary
Definitions
Auditor
Notifications
Create Executive Summary Report
Organization
*
Specify which organization you’d like to choose from.
Axcient
▾
Client
*
Specify which client’s data will be included in the report.
Northwind Marine
▾
Report Date Range
*
Specify a start date and an end date for this report’s data.
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
to
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
Level of detail
Summary Only
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance.
Protected System Listing
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance as well as the backup performance of the client’s individual protected systems.
✓
Preview Report
01
Navigate to Reports
Land where partners already look for reporting. Executive Summary lives as a tab inside the existing Reports area.
Axcient
x360
Recover
Dashboard
Clients
Services
Devices
Vaults
Users
Reports
/ Reports
x360Recover Reports
Executive Summary
Definitions
Auditor
Notifications
Create Executive Summary Report
Organization
*
Specify which organization you’d like to choose from.
Axcient
▾
Client
*
Specify which client’s data will be included in the report.
Northwind Marine
▾
Report Date Range
*
Specify a start date and an end date for this report’s data.
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
to
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
Level of detail
Summary Only
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance.
Protected System Listing
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance as well as the backup performance of the client’s individual protected systems.
✓
Preview Report
02
Create Executive Summary
Pick organization, client, and date range on a short form—no hunting through menus.
Axcient
x360
Recover
Dashboard
Clients
Services
Devices
Vaults
Users
Reports
/ Reports
x360Recover Reports
Executive Summary
Definitions
Auditor
Notifications
Create Executive Summary Report
Organization
*
Specify which organization you’d like to choose from.
Axcient
▾
Client
*
Specify which client’s data will be included in the report.
Northwind Marine
▾
Report Date Range
*
Specify a start date and an end date for this report’s data.
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
to
mm/dd/yyyy
▦
Level of detail
Summary Only
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance.
Protected System Listing
Report will include the executive summary of the client’s backup performance as well as the backup performance of the client’s individual protected systems.
✓
Preview Report
03
Choose detail level
Summary only for a client-ready overview, or add Protected System Listing when the conversation needs depth.
Axcient
x360
Recover
Dashboard
Clients
Services
Devices
Vaults
Users
Reports
/ Reports
x360Recover Reports
Executive Summary
Definitions
Auditor
Notifications
Executive Summary Preview
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period. Use this space to add client-specific context for the QBR.
Suggested Actions and Additional Comments
No actions necessary, your backups are healthy! Please contact us if you have any questions.
Client internet speed estimate
Used to estimate recovery times in the report.
Cable (approx 350 MBps)
▾
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine
Oct 19, 2023 – Oct 25, 2023
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period.
Average Backup Health Score
Current: 85% · Previous: 75%
144 GB
Total Data Backed Up
30/36
Successful Backups
100 GB
Avg. Daily Change
35
Avg. Successful Days
512 GB
Local Cache Storage
4000
Total Restore Points
850 GB
Avg. Data / Server
150 GB
Avg. Data / WS
11.7 hrs
Time-to-Recover
2.1 hrs
WS Recover
04
Add comments
Partners write the summary overview and suggested actions in their own voice before sharing.
Axcient
x360
Recover
Dashboard
Clients
Services
Devices
Vaults
Users
Reports
/ Reports
x360Recover Reports
Executive Summary
Definitions
Auditor
Notifications
Executive Summary Preview
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period. Use this space to add client-specific context for the QBR.
Suggested Actions and Additional Comments
No actions necessary, your backups are healthy! Please contact us if you have any questions.
Client internet speed estimate
Used to estimate recovery times in the report.
Cable (approx 350 MBps)
▾
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine
Oct 19, 2023 – Oct 25, 2023
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period.
Average Backup Health Score
Current: 85% · Previous: 75%
144 GB
Total Data Backed Up
30/36
Successful Backups
100 GB
Avg. Daily Change
35
Avg. Successful Days
512 GB
Local Cache Storage
4000
Total Restore Points
850 GB
Avg. Data / Server
150 GB
Avg. Data / WS
11.7 hrs
Time-to-Recover
2.1 hrs
WS Recover
05
Preview + download
Review the live report preview, then save or download a shareable PDF for the QBR.
THE SOLUTION · FINAL REPORT
A client-ready summary with optional depth when asked
Pages 1–2 tell the story in a QBR. Page 3+ adds Protected System Listing when a client wants to go deeper. Same Northwind Marine example throughout.
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine Oct 19, 2022 – Oct 25, 2022
Northwind
Marine
Summary Overview
This report provides an overview of backups and actions that occurred during this reporting period. Included below are the statistics relating to your overall backup health, data storage, and recovery times.
Average Backup Health Score
0%
100%
Current Period
Previous Period
85%
75%
During this report period, an averaged 85% of your protected systems met their specified SLA protection threshold.
144 GB
Total Data Backed Up
30/36
Successful Backups
100 GB
Appliance Storage
35
Avg. Backups per day
512 GB
Local Cache Storage
4000
Total Restore Points
850 GB
Avg. Data per Server
150 GB
Avg. Data per Workstation
11.7 Hours
Est. Time to Recover Server Data*
2.1 Hours
Est. Time to Recover Workstation Data*
0.2 Hours
Est. Time to Virtualize Server
0.2 Hours
Est. Time to Virtualize Workstation
Protected System Counts
5
Cloud Backup Workstations
65
Cloud Backup Servers
5
On-site Workstations
5
On-site Servers
5
Parked Workstations
5
Parked Servers
At the end of the report period, your organization had 87 systems protected.
*Time to download backed-up data from the Cloud via FTPS, based on an internet speed of 350 Mbps
Page 1 of 2
Generated Oct 26, 2022
Page 1 · Summary overview + health + recovery
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine Oct 19, 2022 – Oct 25, 2022
Northwind
Marine
Storage Growth
Cloud storage
Appliance storage
GB of Growth
15 GB
10 GB
5 GB
0 GB
Oct 19, 2022
Oct 20
Oct 21
Oct 22
Oct 23
Oct 24
Oct 25
Protected Systems Health History
Workstations
Servers
% of PS
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Oct 19, 2022
Oct 20
Oct 21
Oct 22
Oct 23
Oct 24
Oct 25
Over the 7 day period, Servers met their specified SLA protection threshold 95% of the time, while Workstations averaged 85%.
Suggested Actions and Additional Comments
No actions necessary, your backups are healthy! Please contact us if you have any questions.
Page 2 of 2
Generated Oct 26, 2022
Page 2 · Storage growth, health history, MSP comments
Executive Summary Report
Northwind Marine Oct 19, 2022 – Oct 25, 2022
Northwind
Marine
Protected System Listing
≤25%
26–70%
71–90%
≥91%
No data
Protected System
AutoVerify & BootVM Screenshot
Backup Size
Health History
NW-FileServer
Server
2022-10-12
22,300 GB
NW-Accounting
Server
2022-10-12
4,463 GB
Maya-Laptop
Workstation
2022-10-12
186 GB
Dock-POS-01
Workstation
Unavailable
42 GB
NW-Exchange
Server
2022-10-12
8,120 GB
Luis-Laptop
Workstation
2022-10-12
95 GB
Yard-Cam-NVR
Server
2022-10-12
1,240 GB
Front-Desk
Workstation
2022-10-12
64 GB
NW-SQL-01
Server
2022-10-12
12,800 GB
Priya-Laptop
Workstation
2022-10-12
110 GB
Parts-PC
Workstation
2022-10-12
38 GB
NW-BackupVault
Server
2022-10-12
3,560 GB
Page 3 of 4
Generated Oct 26, 2022
Page 3 · Protected system listing (optional depth)
OUTCOMES
Highest-engagement reporting asset on the platform
We set out to give MSPs a clear, professional way to communicate backup value. Since launch it’s become the go-to report for partner QBRs and feedback has stayed consistently positive.
25%
Partner adoption
Within weeks of launch, one in four partners added it to their workflow.
14k+
Clicks
High engagement validated the clarity and usefulness of the design.
2×
Usage vs. other reports
Used more than twice as often as other reporting tools in the platform.
Metrics from early post-launch; engagement has continued to grow.
“I finally have something I can put in front of a client without apologizing for the formatting.”
— MSP Partner
“This turned our QBR from a data dump into a conversation.”
— Account Manager
“Partners keep asking for more reports that look and feel like this one.”
— Product Manager
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Senior UX Designer based in Denver, CO
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